Ring of Fire
by RheesMag
Summary: Gareth and his people have finally found a safe community that provides them with everything they need to survive. With plenty of space, Gareth feels that it's only logical to invite people in to contribute. When his kindness costs him in a tragic way, Gareth and his family have to put the fractured pieces of their life back together. They learn: They are the butcher or cattle.


Day **1**

The sun was just starting to set in the distance. It was the kind of scene that communicated how late it was. The wind, a pleasant breeze to temper an otherwise hot day, provided a nice counter to that stifling warmth. Breathing in the scent of rotting flesh, the man standing behind the chain-link fence, tried to find a moment to stop and enjoy something as beautiful as a setting sun.

It was hard to find anything peaceful in the world after the hell on earth he had gone through with his family. Gareth could still remember the news reports and images that provided a ghastly picture of where the world was going. Not long after his family received word that their block was being sectioned off, the dead invaded the street and soon killed the armed forces who had been sent to protect them.

Fleeing had been their only option after witnessing the chaos unfold on his street. Packing up the bare minimum to travel as light as possible, Gareth recalled the upset that roared inside his heart as he forced himself to walk away from the only home he had ever known that was _his_. Walking beside him had been his shell-shocked family, and a handful of friends they lost along the way.

Finding a camp to survive until the CDC did something about the outbreak was the next logical step. Traversing through the streets that were thick with the smell of death and utter despair, Gareth had tried not to panic at what was happening. He had always been calm, even as a boy. Now was certainly not the time to fall apart at the seams. Grasping his pepper spray in one hand, and his daughter's hand in another, he kept moving.

The feeble weapon he had in his hand did not even register with him that it may not have been enough until one of the dead snuck up on them, and very nearly made a meal out of his child. Her terrified shrieks rang through his ears as he clutched his weapon. Utilizing it, he quickly realized that these sick people were not going down the easy way. Picking up a rock that was just sharp enough to do damage, he jammed it into the side of its brain until the rock only made contact with goo and brain matter.

Beyond the abundance of relief he had that his daughter was safe and had _not_ fallen victim to the gruesome virus he had seen play out on TV, was the horror of knowing that he had killed his first walker. A human that was infected, a human who had a life and a family that was mourning him. Sinking down to his knees to gather his bearings and orient his heart back to its rightful place, he felt a hand gently take his shoulder. Taking a breath, he looked up to meet the wise-beyond-her-years gaze of his daughter.

"Daddy, you did what you had to. You...

you _saved_ me." She spoke the last word with such reverence that Gareth could not help but feel better.

"I did, huh? Maybe it's time to do away with this pepper spray gun." The useless defense weapon he had for years, was now the last thing on earth he needed.

"I think so," she replied with a laugh. "It may do okay beating up bad guys, but these creeps just walk through it." She made an exaggerated walking motion with her hands.

Continuing day after day in the wilderness of what used to be home, was sobering for nearly every member of his family. Taking it one day at a time had soon changed to taking it one _hour_ at a time as food and resources ran low. Any survivor camps that Gareth tried going to for shelter, had already been taken over by the dead. It was not himself he worried about, but the child who was so much like him.

Maddy had done OK considering all she had been forced to go through since the turn sliced away at her peaceful life. The most pressing and traumatic event had been the death of his wife, Chrissy, from a walker bite sustained shortly after Maddy nearly died from her run-in. With eyes flooding with tears, Maddy had gone to her knees beside her mother, and held her hand while she breathed one painful breath after another. Pulling the trigger had been hard, but also merciful.

That was several months ago. Now he thought himself one of the lucky ones that he had manufactured a safe haven for his remaining family. A train station that was just on the outskirts of their old town. A large facility that had more than enough space to comfortably house the many people that he would eventually come to accept into the mix. More importantly, it had rooms in the upper portion that he soon made into bedrooms for his people.

Maddy, still scared of the world and what it was, opted to stay close to her father and grandmother, and also her uncle. Gareth didn't mind, he liked knowing that she was close by when he had things to do. Most pressing was making signs to attract folks to the sanctuary. The idea had come after one recent recruit had mentioned seeing signs for another community.

Jumping a little when his wandering mind had distracted him from the task he was outside for in the first place, he picked up his blade and jammed it into the walker's brain as close as he could. Terminus had a steady stream of unwanted visitors in the form of walkers that came in droves. That evening, he had finally had enough of hearing their disgusting snarls and their rotted flesh poking around his property.

"Hi, daddy," Maddy said, bouncing up to the fence and winding her fingers through the harsh chain-link. "What are you doing?"

"I'm just making sure the creeps don't get too comfortable prowling through here. We had some pretty close earlier."

Maddy nodded seriously. "I know I saw some in the field where we buried Cyndi, and also where the garden is."

Gareth gave a brief shake of his head. It escaped him why the dead often targeted their peaceful community. "Makes me wonder why they have to come _here_."

Maddy shrugged, reaching for her knife when another dead one began moving in their direction. Over the last few months, she had perfected her knife skills, and was now practicing with a gun. "Maybe they like the smell of Grandma's cooking. Or maybe they smelled Cyndi's body."

"Yeah, maybe." Watching her not shy away from killing the plaid-coated walker that slammed itself against the fence, he could not shake the image of his _child_ knowing how to use a knife.

"Daddy?" Maddy spoke softly, her hand flipping the knife over and over. "Do you think they _can_ understand? The walkers."

They both fell silent as Gareth tried to think how best to phrase his answer to his daughter. He often thought about the complex question of if the walkers still maintained enough brains to understand what was happening to them after they woke back up again. He had heard theories about why the walkers were able to come back, but nothing that answered the question Maddy was now posing to him.

He could still remember how he felt after he killed his first walker after it almost killed his daughter. The guilt that he felt _guilty_ for even having, and the hollow look in the creep's face that gave him the faintest inkling that there was something there that could not be explained. He felt it after one of their people, Cyndi, was killed on a supply run. The look in her disfigured face and her eyes, gave him the impression that walkers could possibly understand more than he gave them credit for.

"I...I don't know, Mads. I think it's up to your own personal conviction on that issue. For me...I thought I saw something when I had to put Cyndi down. This glimmer in her eyes, the way that she was reaching for me. It could have been nothing. Or it could have been everything." Gareth smiled, shaking his head in amusement. "Unfortunately we don't have any scientists to confirm or deny it."

Maddy grinned, teasingly bumping into her dad. "Like-"

"Please, do not mention that scientist-"

"Professor Klutzy," Maddy said, dancing out of the way when Gareth made a move to grab her. "He was _so_ funny-" screaming playfully when a walker interrupted her conversation, she righted herself and smoothly aimed her knife between the gaps in the fence.

The walker was just a little faster than she was, and snagged a handful of her dark brown hair between its gnarled hands. Moving forward to assist her in taking down the walker, Gareth was torn between being impressed and terrified when she managed to undo herself from its grip, and quickly stabbed it in the brain. It took a bit more of an effort to take the walker down, but she could, and that was important to him that she could.

Winding an arm around her shoulders when she returned to him, he playfully covered his nose from the residue smell of the walkers that was now on both of them from getting too close. The walk back to the main compound was a long one, but it gave Gareth enough time to spend with his daughter without the pressing need to take down the walkers that saw fit to invade their home. Walking with his head held high, he looked toward the place where they processed their deer meat and other food items.

"Remember when we found this place?" Gareth said quietly, remembering that rainy day like it was yesterday. After more than a month of braving the streets, he had stumbled upon an outcropping of buildings that happened to be just the answer to prayer he had been hoping for.

"Yeah," Maddy said, smiling. "Alex was hurt, he stubbed his toe." She rolled her eyes. "And the rest of us were _so_ tired we could hardly see straight."

"That's right, and even though we had to go through another kind of hell to take this place from the dead, we did it. "

Maddy nodded, looking over her shoulder toward the meat processing room. "I still don't like that room. The meat room."

"Why not?"

"I don't like the...I don't like...I don't like seeing the animals dead." Maddy had always had a heart for animals, and had tried to convince her parents to get her a kitten for her birthday one year. "I can eat it, but I can't see it."

Gareth nodded, looking down at his ten-year-old-child. He had her young, at a time when he was not at all sure that he was ready for the responsibility of being a father. However, when he saw this tiny being staring up at him and depending on him for every basic need, he fell in love with her. And even more so when Maddy turned out to have very similar traits to his: She was intelligent, had a heart for her people, and possessed a bravery that was beyond her years.

"I know you don't like it, Mads, but there's no avoiding the dark and ugly parts of this world. Not anymore."

"I wish there was. I don't like it, the killing and the hunting."

"I know you don't."

Walking uphill toward the main compound, Gareth's heart dipped for reasons that he could not explain to himself. There was something not quite right with how things were. There was something so wrong that it made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Standing closer to his daughter on reflex, he could tell she was sensing the same thing he was. Increasing his pace, Gareth reached for his gun, and motioned for Maddy to pull hers out.

The faint smell of smoke was the first physical sign he had that his instincts were right on point. Wondering, for one brief moment, if his mother had burned something on the grill, he knew that was not it. Not when the place was deadly silent and his heart was pounding so hard that he was sure he would be sick if he didn't calm himself down. Reaching down to hold her hand, Maddy looked at him gratefully, still needing her Dad's reassurance, despite her bravery.

Reaching the gate that separated the fields from the compound, he noted right away that the gate had been damaged by someone pushing right through it. Inching past it when trying to open it proved futile, he guided Maddy through, and kept his gun raised. Surveying the scene that was before him, he saw flower pots upturned, different utensils strewn about. Fixing his eyes on the ground when Maddy cried a quiet sob, his heart plummeted again when he saw the lifeless body of one of Maddy's friends. One of the only other children that was in Terminus.

She was dead, and had been stabbed multiple times. On quick inspection, one of the stab wounds would have mercifully killed her within seconds. Soothingly shushing Maddy when she continued to cry over her lost friend, he bent down and swiftly stabbed her in the brain. The people, whoever they were that were doing this, had neglected to prevent this child from coming back as one of the dead. Maddy was still crushed over the loss of her friend, and Gareth knew that she had to move before something happened.

Taking her hand, he led her through their home. Raising a hand to his lips to remind her to keep quiet, he kept one hand on her hand and the other on his weapon. Coming up to a blind corner, he inhaled a deep breath, and pushed Maddy behind him. He would be the first one in the line of fire, and not his child. Clutching his gun so tightly that he was sure he would break his hand, he waited one half second before throwing himself around the corner.

One of his men, Travis, lunged at him. His grotesque face was contorted in a ravenous hunger as he tried to make a grab for anyone that he could. A momentary well of sorrow swirled inside of Gareth as he took in his friend's walker. Reaching for his knife, knowing it would be quieter than using his gun, he was keenly aware of Travis gaining the upper hand while he struggled for the right weapon. Groaning in pain when the walker backed him against a wall, he saw Maddy finger her own knife, before stepping forward.

His teeth were inches from Gareth's throat. Digging his fingers into Travis's neck, he could feel as the weakened flesh caved in, exposing blood and plenty of his insides. Maddy knifed him.

"Thanks, Mads," Gareth breathed, straightening up and wiping the blood and insides on his jeans. "We have to be quiet as a mouse right now."

"But, Daddy," Maddy choked. "Taylor...she's….she's... "

"I know, I know," Gareth said, gripping her shoulder. "But we can't mourn her right now. We have to find the others and figure out what is going on."

Maddy nodded resolutely. "Okay."

Throwing her a grateful look, Gareth proceeded down the path. The area was still silent, but he did not trust that for one second. The next building coming up was the room where they made all of their signs for the tracks. The "map room" they called it. This room had served many uses, and had proved to be a good play room for Maddy when she needed to blow off some energy. Flattening himself against the wall, Gareth tried to listen to see if anyone was in there.

He could hear the low rumble of several male voices that did not belong to the community. Tightening his grip on his gun now that he knew he would need it, he gestured for Maddy to make sure she had hers with her. He hated the thought of his daughter being thrust into the position of having to kill someone, but there was no other choice. Straining to hear what they were saying, he could only pick out every third sentence. Whatever was happening, these men did not sound angry. They sounded _ecstatic_.

"Maddy," Gareth said, turning to face his daughter. "These men in there, they're not right in the head. They're doing this, and that makes them our enemy."

"Why are they doing this?" Maddy whispered. "We _let_ people in!"

"I...I don't know why. But what you need to know is that these people aren't going to leave the easy way. You might have to-"

Maddy took a deep breath. "I know, daddy. It's okay."

Gareth nodded, giving her one last tight smile, before he eased open the door. There was a side wall that he had to walk around before the rest of the map room was exposed. Now that he was inside the same room, he could hear their voices much clearer, and see their outlines. Several of the men were tall, but some were shorter. The shadows of his people were right around the corner, and it did not take much to see that the men had them in a kneeling position.

Faced with putting his daughter in direct danger, he swallowed his disgust over the situation, and made the first move. Walking out in full view of the bandits who had come in and destroyed his home, he saw a momentary look of shock on their faces, before they sprang into action. One of them grabbed him and forcibly pushed him over to where his people were.

He saw his mother, Mary, kneeling next to his brother, Alex. Both of them had looks of complete terror on their faces. The others in the room each wore different looks of confusion and upset on their faces. Twisting around to see where his daughter was, he saw another man take her by the arm and lead her to where Gareth was. Mouthing words of comfort to her, he ignored the splitting pain in his legs when he was forced down by his mother and brother. These men clearly understood the bonds they had, and who was related to who.

The tall man, who Gareth assumed was the leader, cackled sickeningly as he stood in front of them. His heart pounding erratically in his heart, Gareth wondered how simple it would be for him to get hold of his weapon and fire it before they could do anything about it. He had concealed it right before stepping out for them to see. One look at his daughter confirmed that she, too, had hidden her weapon. Throat dry from his sheer horror, Gareth forced himself to look at the men.

"Well, boys," the leader drawled. "Looks like we made a killing."

"Much better than the last community we raided," another agreed.

"I'm real sorry about this mess," the leader said, leaning down to speak to Gareth. "You're the leader of this place, right? I can tell because _I'm_ the leader of these gang of idiots. Name's Brysen."

"Gareth," Gareth spit out between clenched teeth. "Do I owe my dead people to you, too?"

"Yeah," Brysen said, shaking his head in fake sympathy. "I had no choice. They got in the way. And let me tell you, the kid? She just wouldn't _shut up_ _."_

"SHE WAS MY FRIEND!" Maddy screamed, her voice trembling.

Brysen turned to her, making Gareth feel sicker than he already did. "Did I tell you you could speak to me?"

Gareth was sure the sound of the man's hand slapping her across the face, would stay imprinted in his mind for the rest of his life. Reacting on pure rage and instinct, Gareth reached for his gun and fired a shot that Brysen unfortunately dodged out of the way of. Jumping to his feet, he used the weapon on some of the men who came forward to seize him. Two dropped, but the others were able to get out of the way. Getting a stunned Maddy to her feet, he ran in the only direction that was not blocked off by the men.

The harsh sun that he had been admiring not an hour before, was now a hindrance to him being able to see. Taking Maddy's hand, he ran as fast as he could toward the fields. If he had to leave his home, he would for his family. Mary and Alex were right behind him, as well as some of the others who belonged to Terminus. Maddy's quick breaths resounded in his brain, making him wish more than anything that he could make this go away.

The attack on them had clearly been coordinated. As soon as he reached the chain-link fence that Maddy had often played on during quiet times, they were cut-off by a round of gunshots from some of the bandits who had gotten access to the roofs. Looking at them in incredulity, Gareth changed direction and ran in the direction of the spot where a row of train cars were. At least if they had the train cars, they would have cover if there was a shootout. Sprinting down the cement, the gunfire died down.

"It's almost like they're herdin' us," Alex breathed, leaning over to catch his breath.

"But what for?" Mary demanded, her face white.

"I don't know-" Gareth started to say.

His sentence was cut off when his daughter was snatched from him without warning. Turning to see who had taken her from him, he saw Brysen leering at him with a crazed look in his eyes. Maddy was struggling against his tight grip, her eyes focused on her father as she silently pleaded with him to rescue her from the clutches of this insane man. Gareth's mind raced as he tried to guess how he could best negotiate his daughter's release.

Well," Brysen said, forcing a casual tone to his voice. "Looks to me like you only have only choice, Gareth. You and your people walk over to them cars right there."

"My daughter first," Gareth said, holding his hand out.

"No, first you walk over to that door and throw it open. Then you step in."

"My daughter or no deal."

Brysen sighed dramatically before he produced a knife that he then held to Maddy's throat. She squirmed under the feel of the cool blade pressing against her throat. "Do you really want me to do this? If so, I'm more than happy to make her bleed out like a pig. But," Brysen laughed, "what kind of father does that make you?"

"Daddy-" Maddy cried. "He's hurting me!"

"Okay, okay," Alex said, looking at Gareth, who gave him a quick nod. "We're goin' just don't hurt her, okay?"

"Go, and I won't."

Taking a big step in the direction of the boxcar, he took one hard look at it and wondered what in the world these people wanted with them that they would imprison them. None of the questions he had mattered in that moment. All that mattered was getting his daughter back.

Turning to look at her as he walked, he could see her fighting the knife pressed to her throat, and it broke his heart. No child should ever know what it felt like to have a knife pressed against them. In that instant, Gareth swore he would kill the man who was doing this, and he would kill all of them for hurting his people.

Walking up the few short steps that led into the train car, he paused a moment, before throwing the heavy door open. The men were waiting for him to enter it, but he was not willing to until he had his child. Turning to look at them, Brysen seemed to get the message. Watching as he slowly released Maddy, she ran as fast as she could toward Gareth. Winding his arms around her, he moved both of them inside the car. Outside, he could hear the man instructing the rest of his people to walk in.

"Daddy," Maddy whispered, sinking to her knees on the ground. "Why...why are they doing this?"

"I don't know. I wish I did." Getting down with her, Gareth softly threaded his fingers through her thick hair. "It's gonna be okay."

"How?" Maddy questioned.

"It just is."

Gareth had no clue how he was going to get them out of this situation, but he was determined that he would somehow. Listening to what was going on outside, he heard the many footsteps of his group being herded into the car. They each wore identical looks of shock on their faces.

"What are we gonna do?" Alex demanded.

"We're going to get through this."

That was the only thing Gareth felt like he could promise his group. They had gone through the worst kind of torment in the beginning of the turn, and had somehow come out on the other side of it. Though this situation was shaping to be very bad, he was not ready to give up.

* * *

 **A/N**

I'm trying my hand at writing again. I don't know how this is going to work or how often I might post on this. Whenever the mood strikes and I have plenty of inspiration.


End file.
